The Upside Down Hat

What happens to a boy who has nothing but a hat?

Everything.

A boy wakes up one morning and finds that everything he owns has gone missing. With nothing but a simple green hat, the boy journeys through distant landscapes, searching high and low for the things he has lost. Along the way he discovers that perhaps everything he needs has been sitting on his head all along.

Stephen Barr makes his debut in this achingly poignant and deeply profound fable of one boy's adventure to recover his life's treasures. With vibrant illustrations by Gracey Zhang and a subtle message about hopeful perseverance, this book is an exquisite, emotional journey through loss, persistence, and finding the most important thing in life: oneself.

“"[I]n this meandering fable by debut author Barr. . . . [s]pare narration and subtle themes of hope and dedication guide the child forward . . . Zhang's ( Nigel and the Moon ) characteristic style, rendered in ink, gouache, and watercolor, portray a brown-skinned cast against a vividly colored landscape of deserts, broken Grecian columns, cherry trees, and bustling open-air markets in this picture book about contentment amid loss."-- Publishers Weekly”

"[I]n this meandering fable by debut author Barr. . . . [s]pare narration and subtle themes of hope and dedication guide the child forward . . . Zhang's (Nigel and the Moon) characteristic style, rendered in ink, gouache, and watercolor, portray a brown-skinned cast against a vividly colored landscape of deserts, broken Grecian columns, cherry trees, and bustling open-air markets in this picture book about contentment amid loss."--Publishers Weekly

"A lullingly spare story . . . with exquisite, Bemelmans-like illustrations . . . With contrails of The Little Prince and magic-carpet colors, even adults will be transported." --The New York Times

"Debut author Barr keeps the language simple and lyrical. Watercolor illustrations vibrating with wobbly lines suggest life and motion . . . The last double-page spread . . . depicting the boy on stilts clomping into the distance wearing the hat while his avian friends play in a birdbath, is a joyous conclusion . . ."--Kirkus Reviews

Stephen Barr has been a literary agent representing picture book authors and illustrators for over ten years. He lives in New York. This is his first book.

Gracey Zhang is a freelance illustrator and animator with a BFA in illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design. Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, and educated in the United States, she is now based in New York, where she rides the train while thinking of warmer climates.

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